Multiple-voltage controller.



H. CHENEY MULTIPLE VOLTAGE CONTROLLER. APPLICATION FILED 001. 5, 1908.

987,698. Patented Mar.28;1911.

5 'SHEETS-QSHEET 2.

I I LQQNW Q/b/M/b \NW QMXWL .H. W. CHENEY. MULTIPLE VOLTAGE CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5, 1908. 4

- Patented Mar. 28, 19h.

me wwug H. W. CHENEY. MULTIPLE VOLTAGE CONTROLLER. APPLmATiou P11123001 s, 1908.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

"SHEET 5.

Mil/WW3 .H, w M

HERBERT: CI-IENEY, or MILWAUKEE,

. COMPANY, A CORPORATION or WISCONSIN, assronon To ALLIS-GHALMERS NEW JERSEY.

MULTIPLE-VOLTAGE CONTROLLER.

Specification of Lctterslatent.

Patented'Mar. 28, 1911.

Application filed, October 5, 1908. Serial No. 456,162.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hnnn'nnr V, thinner,- a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of lliilwaukee and State of VVisconshl, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple Voltage Controllers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates tocontrollers for electric motors, and particularly to mnltiple voltage controllers.

It is the object of my invention to provide a controller which is simpler in construction than those heretofore used for the same purpose, which will give more satisfactory results than any hitherto known, and which will stand up under the hardest conditions of use.

ln carrying out my invention, I have de parted entirely'fron-i the traditional forms of controller building. The motor armature terminals are connected to the several sets of mains of a multiple voltage distribution system by the rotation of two fingers around the peripheries of two stationary drums respectively. The contacts on the stationary drums are properly connected to the conductors of the system. The shaft which carries the two fingers also carries a rotatable drum, which has its contacts all in one plane so that they cooperate with a single fixed contact. The contacts of the rotatable drum are all connected to one of the aforesaid rotatable fingers, and the contacts on the rotatable drum and on the two stationary drums are so l0cated relatively that the motor armature circuit is always made and broken atthe fixed contact finger which cooperates with the rotatable drum. Thus any arcing which takes place will occur at this fixed contact finger, which provided witha simple but effective blow-out.

The shaft which carries the rotatable drum and contact fingers may be mechanically connected, through a simple separable coupling which i have devised, to the movable arm of a face plate controller for the field of the under. The contacts of this face plate controller are preferably so arranged that the hold of the motor is strengthened as each increase in voltage is made by the parts mounted on the shaft and is weakened the shaft is moved forward without changing the armature connections, and vice versa.

The shaft of the controller carries a which operate to open a switch to include a buffer resistance in the motor armature circuit upon each change of armature conuections. The closure of this switch is'retarded by a dashpot. The controller shaft is operated by a handle or other means through which a snap action is obtained when the armature connections are changed, while a non-snap action is obtained when the shaft is rotated'to vary the motor field resistance without changing the armature conncctions. The handle is provided with a push-button controlling a latch for preventing the controller from being moved too far upon its snap actions.

The various novel features of my inven tion will appear from the description and drawings. and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure l isa vertical sectional view of my improved controller; taken on the line 1-l of Fig. 4; Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof, being taken at right angles to F in. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the controller with the casing, handle, and some other parts partially broken away; Fin. l is a section on the line &-4- of Fig. 1,; Fig. 5 is a diaga m matic isometric View showing the relative positions and the electri al connections of the several partsof the ccmtrollcr. Figs. 6 and 7 are isometric views showing the bandle and cam wheel in two positions. f h The controller shaft 10 is mounted in bearings 11. or otherwise supported from the frame 12 of the controller casing. The bearings 11 are split in the usual manner. and are preferably nunovahle. The shaft carries a rotatable drum l3. and two arms 14. and 15. all of which are insulated from 1 the shaft and from one another, -save that the arm 14 is connected to the drum l3 and notched plate supplied with cam surfaces this finger is located between the poles 22 of a blow-out magnet 23, which, since it is required to furnish a magnetic field only around the contact finger 17, may be comparatively small. The magnetic circuit of the blow-out is furnished partly by the controller casing 12. Insulating plates 17 may be placed between the finger .17 and the poles .22 of the blow-out magnet, and between the finger and those adjacent parts of the drum with which it is not directly cotiperating. The finger 17 is connected to one terminal of the motor armature 50.

The contact fingers 14 and cotiperate with two stationary drums 24 and 25' respectively. These drums. are concentric with the.shaft 10, which passes through them, but they are mounted independently of the shaft'on a bracket 26 extending from the main casing. The contacts 27 and 28 of ed on insulating disks, and are properly connected to the conductors of a multiple voltage distribution system, as best indicated in Fig. 5. The contacts of these drums subtend greater angles than corresponding. contacts of the drum 13, so that all circuit making and breaking takes place at the last men-' tioned drum andits cooperating contact fin er 17. The contact fingers orarms 14 an 15 each carry a brush 30 'in a radial opening at its outer end. The brush 30 is pressed against the contacts of the cooperating stationary drum by a finger 31 and spring 82. The finger 31 can beswung back beyond its deadcenter in order to allow the removal of the brush 30, and-will be held in.

such position by the spring-32. A shunt 33 may 30-directly to its arm.

The arm 14 is integral with the spider or drum 13, and'is therefore connected to one terminal of the motor armature when any one of the contacts 16 is in engagement with the finger 17. The arm 15 is mounted on a metal hub 34, which turns Within the curved portions of the leaf spring The pressure of this spring on the hub, is regulated by the bolt 36. The spring 35 is connected to the second'motor ar'lnat-ure terminal through a buffer resistance 37, and is also connected spring 62 is coiled about the shaft and en'- to the stationary member 38 of a switch 39, the other member 40 of which switch is con nected the other end of the buffer resist-.,

be provided for connecting the brush v "the drums 24 and 25 respectively are mountance37. When the switch 39 is closed, the resistance 37. is short-circuited.

The-switch 39 is operated by acam 41 on the shaft 10. The cam surfaces on the peripheryof this Wheel operate a lever 42, which is pressed by a spring 43 firmly into engagement with the cam wheel. A lug 44 on the. lever 42 cooperates with a screw 45 in-one arm of a bell-crank lever 46, biased in a clockwise direction by the spring 47. The

long arm of the bell-crank lever 46 operates a rotary dash-pot 48, which retards the movement'of the lever 46 in .a clockwise direction only. This-long armof the bellcra'nk lever also operates a second bell-crank lever 49, which carries the movable member 40 of the switch 39. The lower end of the shaft 10 is connected by a coupling 51 to the arm 52 of a face plate controller 53 for the field 54 of the motor. The contacts of this controller -are connected among themselves and to the resistance 55 as best illustrated in Fig. 5. By means of this arrangement the field is gradually varied in strength only diring those parts of the movement of the c ntroller in which the motor armature connections are not changed, while whenever the motor armature connections are changed it is suddenly brought back to the strength it had before such gradual variation.

The coupling 51 between the shaft 10 and the arm 52 is rather peculiar. There is a wheel plate 56 provided with three notches in its periphery and carrying a pin 57 These three notches and the pin are spaced 90 apart. The arm 52 of the field rheostat 53 is provided with two fingers which project u .Ward respectively into the two diametrically opposite notches of the 'plate 56. Adog 58, attached to the lower end of the shaft 10,

has a finger which projectsdownward into the thirdor middle notch of the plate 56,

which notch is directly toward the'front of the controller when the latter is in off posltion and then only, and a notch which is adapted to receive the pin 57. The notchand'finger on the dog 58 are diametri-.

cally opposite. Bymeans of this arrangement, the shaft 10, bracket 26, and the parts carried thereby may be slid forward out of the controller casing Without disturbing the parts mounted on the shaft. In order thus to remove the shaft-10 and bracket 26, it is necessary that the controller as a whole be in off position. It must he in the same position in order to replace them.

On the upper end of the shaft 10 is mounted the operating. handle. This handle consists of a part 60 fixed to the shaft and a part 61 movable-relatively to the shaft. A

gages pins 63 and 64 on the parts 60 and-61 respectively. When the part 61 of the han dle is turned, the part 60 is given a bias in in a'elockwise direction. This winds up the H2 in a clockwise direction with a snap acthe same direction.- The part 6l of the bandle carries a pawl or dog 65, which is springpressed into engagement with the upper surface of the notched ring 66. By depressing the push-button 67 in the handle, the dog 65 may be lifted out of .the notches of the notched ring 66. The notched portions of the ring 66 correspond to those parts of the controller movement in which the armature connections of the motor are changed. The unnotched portions of the ring 66 correspond to those parts of the controller movement in which only the motor field strength is varied. 4 The operation of the controller is as follows: hen the controller is in off position, the dog 65 is in the extreme counter-clock wise end of the notch (36* of the notched ring 66, and t-he'roller 42 of the lever 42 is in the notch 41 of the cam wheel or notched plate 41. The fingers l4 and are. out of engagement with any of the spective cooperating stationary drums, theswitch 39 is closed, none of the cnn'tacts l6 engage the finger l7, and the arn'i oz isin its extreme cormter-clockwise positiomthus putting all of the resistance in the motor field circuit. If the line switch 70 is now closed the motor to be controlled may be started. lVithout depressing-the push button 67, the part 61 of the handle is moved spring (52, the shaft 10 and the parts carried thereby remaining stationary because of the engagement of the roller 42? with the notch 41. The springs 43 and (32 are properly adjusted to obtain this result. But when the side of the notch (31 strikes the lug the part- (50 of the handle is moved positively,' and the cam surface of'the notch 41 forces the roller and lever outward. This is shown in Fig. (3. As soon as the roller 42* passes beyond the cam surface of the notch 41, the shaft 10 and the parts carried thereby, being freed from the restraining action of the spring 43, are moved by the spring tion; In this snap movement, the fingers 14 and15 practically simultaneously engage the 'tion.- Therefis no. snap act-ion contacts of their re- -Th and contact 16 counter-clockwise ends of the contacts 27 and 28 respectively, and a little later the clockwise end of the contact 16% the finger l7, completing the motor armature circuit and connecting it between the mains 71 and 72 of the multiple voltage distribution circuit. The motor armature circuit now includes the resistance 37, for the outward movement of the lever 42 has caused a counter-clockwise turning of the hellcranl'( lever 46to open the s itch The part 61 of the handle, and consequently the shaft 10 and the parts carried thereby, are prevented from moving too far during this movement by the engagement of the dog 65- with the clockwise end of thenotch 66 of the dash pot 48, and the switch 39, therefore,

does not close until a predeterminedtime after the inward movement of the lever 42. Upon depressing the push button. 67, the handle 61 in its entirety and and parts carriedand operated thereby may be moved forward or in a clockwise direcin this movement, the spring 62 being of such strength that th I the' movement of the part 61 off the handle.

length of the notch 41*, and serves merely tocut, the field resistance gradually into circuit without in any tor armature connections. Fig. 7 shows the close the switch 39. But" the shaft 10 i e various controlling parts "follow.

way varying the 1110-- 41*, the roller 1s movement is limited in extent by the handle and notched plate 41 at aboutthe the dog 65 to drop into the second notch 66" of the notched ring 66. Upon further clockwise movement of the part 61 of the handle, the shaft 10 and parts carried thereby are held against movement. by the counter-clock wlse end of the notch 41. cient movement of part- 61 of the handle, the engagement of the side of with the lug 6O causes the part 60 of the handle, and therefore the shaftlO, to be moved forward positively, the cam surface at the counter-clockwise end of the notch 41 forcing the lever 42 outward and opening the switch 39. As soon a, the roller 42 has reached the top of this cam surface. the con troller is moved forward with a snap action by the spring .111 this movement. the armature circuit is broken at the finger 17 then the fingers 14 and 15 are moved off of the contacts 2-7? and 28* and upon the contacts 27" and '28" respectively, thus changing the arnrature connections from the mains 71 and 72 to the mains. .72 and 73 of higher voltage; and then the armature circuit is completed by the cngag'c mcnt ot' the contact 16 with the linger 17. Also during this movement the entire field resistance 55 is again cut out of the motor field circuit to strengthen the motor field. The resistance 37 is cut into the motor armature circuit b the opening of the switch 3-), and is cut out by being short-circuited when said switch closes a predetermined time after the engagement of the contact 1.6 with the finger I 7. v The roller 42 has now dropped But upon suflithe notch (i1 .into. the clockwisege id of 'thenotch 41* of e the notch plate 41. 1 The engagement oiithe 'do goo withthe clockwise end of the notch 66 prevents thi'smovement' from continuing too far. In Figs. 1, 25.3, and: 4;, the con- *trolleris shown witht'he parts in this position; ,By continuing .th 'e' f orward movement of thehandle, 'the motor. armature may be successively connected between mains of'successively higher voltage, six; voltages being obtained with the controller shown. When- 4 ever the .yoltage-isincreased, the fieldresistance is cut-out of circuit to, strengthen'the motor field,' a1.1d the buffer resistancerot is out into the armature circuit. During those. parts of the controller movement when the voltage impressed on,the armature circuit is; not-changed, the resistance oo is gradu- I ally cutinto circuit to decrease the strength of the motor field. A: predetermined-time 7 after being cut into circuit, the -1 :7e sista nce 37 [is out out by the closing oftheiswitch;39.

Whenever the armature voltage is changed, the. controller has aisnap actiono During all Y other partsof this controller movement there is no snap. action." a The snap movement is j prevented from 'bein'gtoo great by the. c es and the notches in-th'e notched ring 66. i

The :coritroller l'can be moved backward fromany point to diminishthe motor speed.

The "same; snap action "is obtained 'in the 1 backward o ment'- Z'as the]. voltage impressed on the --motor armature ist-changed as in the .forwardginovement, while as in the forward movemenflthere is'no snap action in of this reorward movetroller'to prevent surges of current to the line from the motor armature operating as a generator. In both the forward and the backward movement, the. armature circuit is always'made and hrokenat the finger 17, and therefore-all arcing takes place at this finger; This arcing-is very slight on account of the blow-out magnet 23. a In many cases, some of the features of the controller above described may be omitted. For lIlStHDCG, it is desirable to vary the connections of but one of the motor terminals,

in which case the other motor tern'lin al, say the left hand one in F 1g. 5, may be permanently connected to one of the mains,'say

, fixed point.

71 either directiy or through the resistance 37 and switch 39. In such'case the armilo and stationary drum, would simply be omitted.

Many modifications may be made'in 'the precise arrangement here shown and described, .and all such which do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of my invention I aim to cover in the following-claims.

What I claim'as new is: v 1'; In a multiple voltage controller, the combination ofa rotatable member comprising'a drum and two contact fin ers; two sets I of'stationary contacts with which said 'contact fingers respectively cooperate to cQnnect a motor armature to different sets for:

multiple voltage mains, a stationary contact 'finger with which said drum cooperates to v I make and break the circuit, and a blow-out magnet energizing a magnetic field in which said stationary contact finger 1s locatedn stationary" contact finger with which said drum'cooperates. 1

cooperating fixed and movable contacts arranged and connected, so that all are-pro ducing interruptions of the armature circuit of the motor tobecontrolled occur at one 4-. A multiple voltage controller having cooperating fixed andmovable contacts arran ed and connected-sothat all arc-producing interruptions of the armature circuit oftl'te motdrto be controlled occur at one fixed point, and a-blow-out magnet which energizes a magnetic; field" at that point. I l 5. In. a multiple voltage controller, the

combination ot'a' finger movable over a 2. In a controller, the combin'ation of a rotatable member comprising a drum and two single contactfingers, two sets of stationary contacts with which 'said contact fingers respectively cooperate, and a single 3'.,-A mu1tip1evoltage controller having plurality of contacts to vary the voltage impressed on a motor armature, a rotatable" drum provided with contacts and movable with said finger, and a contact finger co-' operating with the contacts of said drum and at which all interruptions of the armature current occur 1 6. In a multiple voltage controller, the

combination of a rotatable member comprising a drum and two contact fingers, two setsof stationary contacts with which Said con-tact fingers respectively cooperate to connect a motor armature to diiler'ent sets of multiple voltage mains, and a stationary contact finger with which said drum c'ooperates to make and break the circuit.

7. In a controller, the combination of a rotatable member comprising a contact finger and a drum having a plurality ofcontaets,- a plurality of fixed contacts with I said drum cooperate. p

8. In a multiple voltage controller, a'plu-- ra-lity of fixed v when v which said finger cooperates, and a fixed contact finger with which the contacts of cont-acts connected to the mains of a multiple voltage system, a contact finger movable over said fixed cont-acts, a plurality of contacts movable with said contact finger, and a fixed contact finger with which said movable contacts cooperate and at which all interruptions of the circuit to be controlled are made.

9. In a multiple voltage controller, a plurality of fixed contacts connected to the mains of a multiple voltage system, a contact finger movable over said fixed contacts, a plurality of contacts movable with said contact fingc a fixed contact fingerwith which said movable contactscooperate and at which all interruptions of the circuit to be controlled are made, and a blow-out ma net energizing a magnetic field in whiai sa'id fixed contact is located.

10. A controller for electric motors, comprising means for varying the voltage impressed on the motor armature and for varying the strength of the motor field, and means for causing said controller to have a snap action when it varies the voltage im-.

pressed on the motor armature and a nonsnap action when it varies only the strength oi the motor field.

11. In combination, a controller for electric motors, and means for giving said controller a "snap action and a non-snap action during alternate control-effecting parts of its movement.

12. A multiple voltage controller, comn sing means for connecting a motor armaturn to different sets of multiple. voltage mains, means for varying the resistance of the field circuit, and means for giving the (Ol'ltl'fillCl a snap action when the motor armature connections arechangedand a nonsnap action at other times.

13. In a multiple voltage controller, the combination of means trollcr a snap action when the motor armature connections are changed from one set of mains to another and a non-snap action only the field resistance is varied, and means for inserting a buffer resistance in the armature circuit for a predetermined time after each change of armature connections.

1 51:. In a controller for electric motors, a controlling part mounted ona shaft, a face plate controller comprising a series of contacts and an arm movable oversaid contacts; and a coupling between theshaft and the arm of the face plate controller which makes call rotate with the other but permits the separate removal of one without the other.

A multiple voltage controlleizcomprising a rotatable shaft, parts mounted thereon mg said rotatable for giving the con-.

16. A controller for electric motors, comprising a rotatablelmember, means for givmember 'a, snap action during part of its movement and a non-snap action during another part thereof, and a push button controlled stop for preventing the snap action from being too great.

17'. In a controller, the combination of two relatively rotatable contacts, a, spring pressing one of said contacts toward the other, and means for independently adjusting the pressure of said spring and the limit of the movement caused by said spring.

18. In a motor controller, the combination of means for giving the controller a snap action at certain points of its movement and a nonsnap action at other points, and means for inserting a buffer resistance into the circuit of the motor to be controlled at each snap actioirofithc controller.

19. In a. multiple voltage controller, the

combination of two co-axial circular rows of contacts connected to the mains of a multiple voltage system, a" shaft rotatable on the axis of said rows of contacts, and two contact arms carried by said shaft and cooperating with said two rows of contacts respectively.

20. In a multiple voltage controller, the combination of two series of fixed contacts for connectioncach to mains of a. multiple voltage system, and two contact arms which are movable together and cooperate with said two series of contacts respectively to connect a motor armature across different sets of the multiple voltage mains.

21. In a multiple voltage controller, the combination of two series of fixed contacts or connection to the mains of a multiple voltage system, two contact arms which are m'ovable together and cooperate with said two series of contacts respectively to connect a motor armature across difierent'sets of the multiple voltage mains, andmeans forgiving said contact arms a snap action as they make a changein the motor armature con nections. I

22. In a controller, the combination of a rotatable drum, a contact finger cooperating with said drum, a sp rin pressing said con tact finger toward said rum, and two *inde-' pendent means for adjusting the pressure of said spring and the limit of the movement caused by said spring respectively.

23. In a controller for electric motors, an armature controlling part mounted n a shaft, a field-controlling part comprising a Series of contacts imd an arm movable over other but permits the separate removal of saicl contacts, and a separable coupling beone Without the other. tween the armature-controlling part-and the Milwaukee, Wis, September 24, 1908. field-controllingpart- Which permits the In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

5 separate removal of one of said parts Within the presence of two witnesses.

((1)11?) ljgisitciglriler only when the controlleris in HERBERT CHENEY. 24. In a cont-roller for electric motors, two lVit-nesses: I rotatable parts, and a coupling between said H. C. CASE, 10 two parts which makes each rotate with the Crns. L. Br'nox.

flopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

